Every Day in Between
by Glorelleth.Ancalime
Summary: Series of one shots of SkyeWard. Not in chronological order and may contain spoilers but hopefully not too much. I don't own Agents of SHIELD. Chapter 11: Warm (based on 1x12)
1. Nice Night

_~ Series of one shots of the adorable couple, SkyeWard ~_

**"We all deserve a nice night"**

**Set after that particular cliffhanger in 1x08**

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"Another time, maybe," he said with a smile in his eyes and left. Her doe brown eyes reciprocated a smile as she watched the shadow of her S.O. fade into the darkness. Her fingers tapped on the glass surface of the bar, sighing at the thought of the agent named Grant Ward. She was obsessed. Not romantically. Wait, who are we kidding? Maybe a hint of romance. He was dashingly handsome, equipped with those cheekbones of his. Of course she couldn't resist to not being swoon by him. But no, our young hacktivist was more obsessed with his story. His deepest fears. His buried desires. _His darkest secrets. _She knew the brooding black ops specialist wouldn't tell her about his past at one sitting. She knew. But it was too late. She had begun prying into his past life, one layer at a time.

She smiled to herself, feeling a sense of achievement when her hunch was proven right when he confessed shakily that it was indeed about his brother. But she also couldn't help but to feel sorry for the guy. The brunette never knew what to think of the situation of having siblings. Granted she grew up in an orphanage filled with other children but none were her real biological siblings who she can't run away from. He, on the other hand, couldn't run away from it. Forced into a position full of hate and rage that he couldn't escape. A position so traumatic that he had no choice but to forget his haunting childhood nightmares. Nightmares that his rookie hacker couldn't yet understand. And maybe could never ever understand. However, she had broken his first barrier and her innate hacker instincts craved to dig up more information. It was an addiction that she couldn't break free.

"Would you like a drink?" the Irish bartender interrupted her thoughts to the point of making her annoyed. He was just doing his job. She faked a smile and kindly declined. Hard-hitting drinks were the last things she needed. After the whole Ward hulking out fiasco, she needed peace and serenity. And that was what she did: staring blankly at the anonymous faces coming and going at the bar, accompanied by numerous offers by strange drunken men for a drink whom she just shrugged off. Before she knew it, it was already one in the morning. She was tired but not exhausted. Her mind still wondered of Ward and his past but maybe it's time to leave the topic for another day. She slithered off her seat and made her way.

"_Escalator or staircase?"_ she asked herself before making an impulsive decision of sauntering up the stairs. It didn't take her long until she was at her floor. Her eyes began to feel heavy, that is until a tall familiar figure emerged from Agent May's hotel room. Their eyes met.

Her mind whirled with a million questions and accusations. She was relieved that he, of all her other team members, was the one she saw in the hallway. She was disappointed that he, of all her other team members, was the one she saw come out from May's room. She was frustrated that he, of all her other team members, pushed her away when she was trying to reach out to him. She was heartbroken that he, of all her other team members, chose May over her. However, she now understood how he felt after she was caught sleeping with Miles Lydon only a few weeks ago. Yes, bottom line is she was confused.

His mind only thought of one thing, _"It's not what it looks like."_

She forced a half-hearted smile and avoided any eye contact as she walked away, wanting to hide in her room and lock herself from the world. What was she thinking? Being all concerned about her supervising officer when he, himself, didn't want to get close to her but was just too polite to say so. She refused to look back but deep down, she was screaming for him to come after her.

He chased after his apprentice then slowed down to her pace as soon as he caught up to her. They remained silent. Both unsure of what to say to each other. Both feeling the tension between them. Both wanting to say something but didn't know what to say. She felt a whole lot of emotions. He was just confused. She fiddled with her fingers. He fiddled with his key card. And there they were, in an awkward silence filled with intensity until both suddenly decide to speak at the same time.

"So," they both slurred. They stopped and looked at each other. She regurgitated a nervous chuckle. He let out a soft grunt. She stared at him, trying to figure out his emotions but he upheld his robot reputation. His eyebrow lifted and she understood it was her cue to talk.

"What time are we leaving?" She asked dryly.

"Seven," he informed. She nodded, still fiddling with her fingers before he continued, "But I want you down at the Bus ten minutes before." She rolled her eyes.

"Of course, how can I forget the ten minute rule?" His lips curved a smile at her response. His smile disappeared as soon as the thought of him needing to say something about what just happened popped in his mind. He knew surely she had thought the worst of him but he was not that guy.

"What you saw, it wasn't like that," he struggled. She pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows, "Well, like I said, we deserve a nice night. You especially."

"Not like this. I'm not that guy," he insisted, "We just drank and talked."

"And you're telling me all this because?"

"You need to know," he emphasized, pleading with his eyes. She put on her best smug face, "You do realise that if I want to know everything about you, I can just hack into SHIELD and it's all laid out in front of me, right?" It was true. She could and she had. Well, not with the current circumstance; the bracelet Coulson had her put on; but she could. He smirked at her smart and fast remark then scratched his eyebrow, desperate to find his way out of his current predicament.

_"Come on, you're trained to get out of difficult situations,"_ he told himself.

"Well, good night Ward," she said, wanting to unlock her door which was directly opposite his door. He didn't want her to go. Not until it was all clear waters. He snaked his way behind her. She felt his presence. Chills ran down her spine but she shook them off before spinning around to face him. His face towered just a few inches from hers. Her eyes widened and a soft gasp released from her mouth. She wasn't expecting such closeness outside the training scene. A whiff of whiskey poured from his lips. His eyes softened. She couldn't help herself from mirroring his actions. Their eyes locked and continued to lock as though they were communicating telepathically. That look of belonging glinted in her deep brown eyes. That look of uncertainty shadowed in his dark eyes. They both knew what each other was thinking and feeling.

"I wasn't trained for any of this, Skye," he whispered, avoiding her gaze. He was afraid. Afraid that she could see she right through him. Remembering how Agent Maria Hill gave him low marks only for people skills, he knew he was ready for anything but this. His vivacious student would be his undoing. What was this feeling he was feeling?

"I know, Ward," she whispered back, searching for his eyes to look into hers. Eventually, her eyes found his. She knew his position and that they could never be more than what they already were. They understood that yet feelings still soared. And there they stood, only a few inches away from each other, comfortable with one another's presence until she faltered, "Good night," and closed the door, glancing longingly one last time at her tall mentor standing at her door. Yes, they all deserved a nice night.

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_**AN: I hope it wasn't too bad. Review and let me know what you think and whether I should continue with the whole 'series of one shots' idea :)**  
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	2. Aspirin

_~ Series of one shots of the adorable couple, SkyeWard ~_

_**AN: Holy crap, I wasn't expecting to get awesome reviews and favourites! Thank you so much guys! Well, here's another one and I hope you like it :)**  
_

**Wolf's Edge's prompt: "How about one where Ward gets the flu and Skye decided she needs to save him from his stubborn self?"**

**Set after 1x08**

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Sweat trickled down their foreheads. Their clothes, drenched. She was panting hard. His breathing was calm as ever. Her body ached, moments away from collapsing to the ground after a vigorous hour of boxing. His body was sturdy; an hour of boxing was easy peasy. She wiped the sweat off her forehead, mustering all her leftover strength to keep her hands up. No, she wasn't ready to give up again. Too many times he had bested her best with ease. This time, it's her time.

Their eyes locked intensely like two wild tigers ready to pounce at each other. She raised her eyebrow and smiled cunningly. He smirked. She was getting stronger by the day, no doubt about that but there was no way, she could ever knock him down to his feet. He wouldn't allow it. His pride wouldn't allow it.

She was ready to punch the hell out of him. He, for once, wasn't ready for impact. His body suddenly ached and he could feel a headache brewing in his head. He blinked a couple of times, thinking he could just blink away the aches but it wasn't as easy as that. She scooped for a punch with her right fist and then a jab in his side with her other fist. It all happened so quickly. He couldn't keep up.

_Thud._ He fell to the ground and groaned.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air before chuckling, "Told you I'd beat you one day." He ignored her words and sat up, trying to focus; shutting his eyes tightly and massaging his temples. He didn't know what came over him. This had never happen. His mind suddenly drifted and his vision turned fuzzy.

"Ward?" she called out to him, "hey, Ward. Look at me." She touched his arm lightly and as though he had been underwater for a long time, he gasped for air. Having clearer visions now, he saw her big brown eyes scanning his face with concern. He still said nothing and tried not to give off any expression on his face but failed. Her hand pressed against his forehead.

"I'm fine," he grumbled, pushing her hand away. She frowned and retorted, "Dude, you're burning up."

"We were training, what do you expect?" he snarled, stood up, stretched slightly then snatched his towel before heading up the spiral stairs, leaving the confused and worried Skye at the cargo hold all alone.

"Jemma, Jemma! Oof," Fitz grunted as he bumped into a sweaty and shirtless Ward. The eccentric scientist's eyes concentrated on the bare chest of the muscle of the team for a couple of seconds before focusing back on his tablet and scurrying off, cringing at the thought of him being jealous of Ward's body. "Jemma! Look at the spectrograph for the 4150 Chrome-Moly Vanadium 11595e Steel, we could use this for..." his thick Scottist accented babbling words of science faded as he ran down to his lab.

Ward tightened his jaw. The throbbing in his head wasn't going away. His temperature seemed to climb higher and higher by the minute. His body was aching more than anything. And a trail of rage was building up in his chest.

Cold water flowed down his body. He leaned his arm against the wall, loathing at the idea that he was coming down with a sickness. The fire in his chest intensified. He had been so careful with his hygiene and everything he ate that he just couldn't comprehend how he came to be this sick, this fast. He scowled at himself, annoyed with his carelessness then grabbed the knob, twisted it and hopped out of the shower before dressing himself in a pair of black pants and a grey v-neck.

At the other end of the Bus, Skye was too in the bathroom, cleaning herself up and getting ready for whatever they needed to get ready for. She was still unsure of Coulson's plan for the team for today so she figured that she might as well be ready for anything.

_Click_. The latch unlocked.

Her soft waves bounced over her shoulders as she pranced around the Bus, in search of something to do that doesn't involve computers. Yes, even the hacker needed a break from all things electronic. It wasn't long until she saw something she liked. She smiled and leaned against the dividing wall, observing her S.O. who was quietly reading in the living room.

He looked up after feeling two beady eyes looking at him. He tightened his lips and curved a faint smile. His body still ached. His headache became a mere bother. But that burning rage still lingered.

"Matterhorn?" she questioned, extremely confident she was right. He smirked at the all too familiar scene and shook his head lightly, "Dear America." She sulked, disappointed at her wrong guess then plopped at the seat next to him while he resumed reading. She said nothing; instead she peered over his shoulder to take a look at his book. He sighed exasperatedly, troubled by her inquisitive nature and asked gruffly, "Do you mind?"

"Not really. Do you?" she mumbled with a cheeky grin. He glared at her softly and continued with his book. He wanted to be left alone. She didn't want to leave him alone. He groaned.

"What?" the mentor growled through gritted teeth and looked at his student. She smiled sweetly but he knew no good can come from that smile.

_Slap. _Her hand smacked his forehead and his heat rushed onto her cold palm.

"God, what the-?" he bellowed then stood up immediately, slapping his book close.

"Seriously Ward, you're burning up," she yelled back softly.

"I'm fine," he scowled.

"You're sick!"

"I don't get sick!"

"Even robots get viruses."

"I said I'm fine!" he shouted, picking up his copy of 'Dear America' and stormed his way to his bunk. She sighed and clicked her tongue, determined to get her stubborn S.O. to surrender.

"Right, that went well. Time for Operation Get-Ward-to-eat-medicine," she breathed her words and scampered to Fitz-Simmons to brief them of her plan.

_Thomp. Thomp._ His head began to throb again. Worse, now it felt like he was in a carousel, spinning round and round in a never ending whirlwind. He massaged his temples and grabbed his blanket. The feverish cold surged through his body. He was sick. He knew from the start and even when Skye pointed it out, he knew but he was too hard-headed and furious to admit it. See, he couldn't afford to get sick. He needed to be fit and strong for the rest of the team. However, it was more of the fact that of all the alien and severe contaminants he was exposed to, a simple common human flu became his downfall that bothered him.

He thought he was able to shrug it off by reading his book but then found that he had begun to read the same paragraph for the fifth time. He let out a snuffle. Then his heart rushed.

_"Just shake it off, Ward," _he told himself, trying to calm himself.

_Knock. Knock._ Someone was at his door. He sighed aggravatedly. Can't he be left alone? Apparently not. He opened his bunk door and suddenly, an instrument stuck on his neck and a plastic stick was in his mouth, clawing for samples of saliva. It was the bright-eyed Simmons who then placed the plastic stick into a scanner and removed the instrument; which was an electronic vitals monitor; from his neck. He clenched his fist, making his best effort to stop himself from punching the nearest person.

"Right, temperature's an astounding 38.7 degrees Celsius and vitals seem normal..." she paused, checking the results in her tablet from the scanner in Fitz's hands. "Just as I thought, nothing extraordinarily lethal, unlike the Chitaurion virus I contracted," she spoke with a nervous laugh towards the end. Ward was annoyed and he clearly showed it. He glanced at Fitz, who gave him an 'it-wasn't-my-idea' look and pursed his lips, realising that this was all from the minds of his very own Skye.

"Well?" he grunted, after Simmons got distracted with the scanner Fitz was holding.

"Oh right. Well, it seems that you have type B influenza, a common viral disease. It would explain why you have headaches or muscle pains; if you do have them; and also the spike from your usual temperature of 37.1. Right now, you're probably thinking that you've been so careful so how did all of this happen, because well, you are _the_ meticulous Agent Ward," she said with a sheepish smile, "but I believe that it's due to the constant temperature change from all our travelling, I am not entirely sure but it would be the only logical explanation." Fitz nodded, agreeing with his counterpart. "I am going to put you under a course of paracetamol or aspirin, it's pretty much the same thing, really. So you get lots of rest and drink plenty of fluids and you should be fine after two or three days," Simmons added.

"Two or three days?!" Ward semi-shouted, infuriated.

"Well, it's better than a week," she claimed.

"Come on now big guy, it'll go away before you can say SHIELD," Fitz teased with that innocent smile of his.

"SHIELD," Ward droned. Fitz's smile disappeared. Ward groaned and slammed his door shut, startling the two young scientists. They walked away, Simmons distraught by what happened until Skye walked up and asked, "He didn't like it?"

"Not one bit," she slumped her shoulders. Skye put her hand on Simmon's shoulder and assured, "Thanks for that, at least now Agent Grumpy can't escape from the fact that he's sick. I'll deal with him."

Back in his bunk, Ward laid down on his tiny bed and figured he should just get some rest, like what Simmons suggested him to do but his mind refused to let him rest. He kept thinking of the same things over and over again. How did he become this sick, this fast? However, it was a particular thought that kept him awake even more. Skye. That damn rookie of his kept coming back to him like ocean waves, she goes away for a little while but as anticipated, she'll come back to him. He wants to hate the smothering yet he doesn't want to be left alone.

She, on the other hand, just wanted him to get better. Ever since Simmon's near death experience, she couldn't stand the idea of anyone getting sick, even if it was from a common flu. She felt so helpless then, not knowing what to do when Simmons was infected. She hated that feeling of powerlessness so she vowed to make sure to do anything she could to prevent any minor sickness happening to anyone. Now, Ward is sick. And to make things worse, the effects of the Berserker staff was still fresh in him. She knew that any trace of illness would increase his temper. She knew him too well.

_Knock. Knock._ The two light knocks on the door was all it took to spark a rage in his chest. His bunk slid open.

"What?!" he roared, sitting up on his bed after seeing that particular brunette walk into his bunk, uninvited.

"Hey, relax, I just brought you a drink and an aspirin," she wandered in then forced a pill in his hand. His eyes were fixated on her as she unscrewed the cap of the SHIELD crested bottle. Somehow, her presence wasn't that irritating as he thought. In fact, it soothed the burn in his chest.

"Eat. Swallow. Whatever, just take it," she shrugged, teasingly glaring at him.

"Are you always a pain in the ass?" he rolled his eyes and straightened his back against the bed head with the pill in hand.

"Depends, I mean, I can let you be all sick to the point of you being kicked off this plane but then I'd have to find a new S.O. and I'll have to start over and be all goody-goody again. One simply cannot be bothered," she blurted without pausing for a breath. He said nothing but continued to stare at her. She placed one hand on her hip and sighed.

"Eat it," she ordered then cocked an eyebrow and continued with a mischievous grin while sitting at the very edge of his bed, "Or I'll make sure you'll forget the meaning of 'peacefulness'."

The edge of his lips curved up to a half-smile and their eyes locked playfully. She narrowed her eyes, challenging him. He narrowed his eyes too but only for a few seconds before he gave in and popped the small pill of aspirin in his mouth. She smacked her lips, feeling victorious and passed the bottle before sighing as he swallowed the pill in a single gulp. His eyes were still locked on hers even after he finished. Only when their fingers brushed against each other's as he passed the bottle back to her did he glance at his fingers but immediately found himself looking into her chocolate brown eyes again.

"Um... well... good. I'll just... go," she articulated, standing up and backing out slowly then slid his door closed. The smirk on his face remained as though she was still in his bunk. Fire engulfed in his chest again but this time, it wasn't rage, it wasn't anger. It was something that was very much the exact opposite.

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**AN: So, what do you think? And what do you guys want me to do next? Review your prompts/requests and I shall choose using the most genius method: Eenie menie miney mo, because I believe you have wonderful ideas and I'd be pulling out strands of hair to try to choose between them all; I love my hair, my hair is nice :P **


	3. Checkmate

_~ Series of one shots of the adorable couple, SkyeWard ~_

_**AN: Okay, I know I said I'll write about one of the prompts that you guys post but this is just a random idea I came up with immediately after I posted the last chapter. I'll get on to that as soon as possible but in the meantime, enjoy! :)**_

**Set before 1x08**

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"Checkmate," he announced, leaned forward and smirked before placing his final piece, the Queen, on exactly C6, trapping her King. He won. Again. For the sixth time. She tugged on her hair and cocked her head, trying to figure out what the hell he just did.

"What? How?" she questioned with a slight twitch in her right eye. She knew that she couldn't win, especially because she had just started learning chess only 47 minutes ago; to be exact; but she was so convinced that moving her King one step to the left would keep her in the game for at least one more turn. Compared to this, hacking into SHIELD's Level 8 server was a breeze. Yes, this was the one game that she couldn't hack into to gain the cheat codes.

"You're surrounded," he pointed at her King then traced his finger around his pieces. She rested her chin on her fists and squinted. Her eyes examined her King, then his King, then his Rook, then his Bishop and lastly, his Queen. "Okay, my only piece is surrounded by his four pieces, that means..." she murmured. He smiled with his eyes as he watched the usually distracted rookie concentrate on the chessboard, sitting comfortable in her seat with her legs crossed. This was one of the rare moments she'd been engrossed with something other than hacking. However, it wasn't long until she gave up and shook her head, "Nope, explain to me, my dear S.O."

He sat up and heaved a sigh. She leaned in closer, wanting to try to grasp the concept. He breathed in and started, "See, if you move yours here, my King can... um, eat you." He tried his best to simplify his explanation. She nodded slowly. He glanced at her eyes but they were fixed on the chess pieces.

"Well, same with the Rook," he moved his Rook to demonstrate his point. "The Bishop," he moved his Bishop. "And," gazing her face as he faltered, "my Queen." His eyes studied every detail on her face. Her glinting chocolate brown almond eyes. Her bronzed flawless skin. Her sculpted pink lips. She was still looking down at the chessboard, unaware of the world around her. Unaware of him looking at her. He smiled to himself. He just couldn't help but to stare at her beautiful face. His brain was being an ass; spewing thoughts of how she betrayed the team, betrayed _him_, how they were too different from each other and that nothing could ever work between them. His heart, however, just pounded a little faster than usual. That was the only sign he needed.

"Yep, I can totally understand that... it's really complicated," she complained, slouching back against her chair. He snapped out of his deep thoughts, cleared his throat and looked out window, hoping that she didn't notice him staring at her. "I mean, seriously. I'd rather do 50 push-ups than play one game of chess," she proclaimed, glancing at him who had a raised eyebrow. "Oh no, don't you get any ideas," she snapped, unscrewed the cap of her bottle before taking a sip and continuing, "but come on, what's the point of this? I thought you've already 'evaluated my thought process' when we were playing battleship?"

He leaned against his chair and stroked his chin, "Like you said, battleship was 'stabbing in the dark'. Chess, it's a game of strategy and precision."

"Strategy?" she said with a laugh, "Dude, I just moved random pieces and hoped for the best."

"And how did that work out for you?"

"Honestly, not that bad, until you moved your Queen and took me out," she groaned. _His Queen_.

"You need to look at the whole chessboard. Extract the threats, one by one, and come up with an effective approach," he lectured. She looked at him blankly. "It's the same in the battlefield. You go in, scan the whole situation, think of the threats, how to eliminate them, come with a plan and then execute it. Done," he continued his lecture.

"Team briefing in 5," Coulson's voice filled the Bus. He looked up and sighed. Some part of him was disappointed that their little bonding time was cut short, even if it was over chess. He just couldn't get enough of her.

"Can't I just go in there, go with the flow? Pretty sure that's more fun," she blurted, her eyes following his movement as he stood up.

"It's not about having fun, it's about getting the job done," he muttered and extended a hand. She giggled, grabbed his hand and pulled herself up. He glared at her. She looked at him and smiled, "Fun, done. They rhyme?" Only she could make him smirk at the silliest of things. He rolled his eyes, shook his head as he pulled her to the common area. "No? Okay," she whispered and, as usual, tried to fray from his grasp but to no avail. His grip on her was too strong that he, himself couldn't shake it off. That is, until May shot an unexpressive look to him. He let go, feeling a rush of heat surging to his cheeks but maintained composure.

Skye punched his arm lightly and flopped down at the seat in front of him. Fitz-Simmons scurried in, followed by Coulson with a tablet in his hand.

"I wonder where we're going," said Simmons excitedly, sitting on the couch adjacent to Skye. Fitz took the spot beside Simmons while fidgeting with his night-night pistol.

"Tahiti, maybe," he mumbled to himself, loud enough for everyone to hear. All eyes fell on him. He looked up, wearing an ignorant face and mouthed _"What?"_

"Tahiti _is _a magical place," Coulson spoke with a monotonous tone before continuing, "But no." His face became more serious than usual when he looked at Ward. Ward's heart began to beat faster. What did he do? Did Coulson suspect something going on between him and Skye? As far he knows, they never did anything that broke protocol. Alright, maybe the casual flirting but...

"Sir?" he grunted, feeling more and more anxious by the minute. What exactly did he do? Coulson turned his action to the rest of his team and announced, "I need everyone to understand that what we are, in this Bus... we're a team. We look out for one another. We take care of our own." Skye nodded. So did Simmons. And Fitz. May glanced at Ward who was feeling even more uneasy.

"Ward, is there anything you'd like to say?" he asked. Ward swallowed down hard and pressed down on Skye's shoulder impulsively. She said nothing, relieved that for once, it wasn't her in trouble. He also said nothing.

"You ate my pancakes. Without telling me," Coulson continued. Wait. What?

"Um... Sir?" Ward choked, confused, very confused. Skye and Fitz-Simmons snickered. May nodded slightly.

"Make me more pancakes. I'm starving," he spoke without a single emotion on his face, "with maple syrup," and walked off.

Skye was already crying of laughter. Ward's face fell. He remembered now. The stack of pancakes on the kitchenette. He ate them. He ate them all.

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**AN: I just thought I need to end with a funnier note this time :P**


	4. Dysmennorhoea

_~ Series of one shots of the adorable couple, SkyeWard ~_

**_AN: So the finger chose_ CaskettOlicityJeca! _Yay! I hope you guys like this one :)_  
**

**CaskettOlicityJeca's prompt: "Skye is having a painful and emotional period and Ward, much to his dismay, is asked to look after her by Simmons."**

**Not set after any specific episode :)**

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Her eyes opened. A piercing pain gushed in her lower abdomen. She sat up. It was painful. So very painful. The worse she's ever experienced. Her body shivered. Her lips quivered. Her mouth let out a soft groan. It was as though she had swallowed a knife and inside her, the knife was on slashing spree. It hurt that much. She was curled up in a ball for at least 10 minutes, trying her best to suppress the pain. By now, she was already tired. It wasn't hot in the Bus, in fact, it wasn't even warm but she could feel sweat around her neck. She breathed in and out; with every breath, the pain slowly subsided but nonetheless, didn't disappear. She sighed, relieved that she could now stand up.

"What the hell was that?" she whispered to herself, walked out of her bunk and trembled to the kitchenette. Ward had his back facing her as he blended some sort of protein shake. She sat on the stool and leaned forward, resting her arms on the bench top and her head hanging low. Thoughts of her redacted file suddenly floated in her mind and how Coulson told her she was dropped of by a SHIELD agent who may or may not be her mother. Her eyes stung as tears formed. She had a mother. Is that it? She _had _a mother. Not _has._ Had.

"Oh god-" Ward jumped, just slightly, when he turned around and then cleared his throat, "Skye." She lifted her head to reveal two teary red eyes. She didn't know what came over her. She felt emotional and rather angry. Emotions she thought she never had, it was all in her.

"You okay?" he asked her, without a hint of concern in his tone but inside, it was a different story.

"I'm fine," she nodded feebly.

"Do you want me... to make you something?" he offered. She shook her head and looked down. He furrowed his eyebrows, knowing that something was wrong but just kept quiet and put his protein shake on the bench top.

"I think I need to sit this one out," she stood up, grabbed his protein shake; much to his surprise; and walked towards her bunk. He followed her, shaking his head and replied, "Oh no you don't –"

"Ward," she snapped with her eyes glaring at him. Something in her tone made him step back. She was not, most definitely not, in a smiley mood. Still thinking of her mother, she curled back in a ball and buried her face in her hands. What happened to her, all those years ago? She was so good at extracting information of others, of secret organisations and putting it out to the world but her own life mystery wasn't even close to being solved. How long is it till she finds out the truth? How long? And there it came again. That excruciating pain at the bottom of her stomach. She whimpered, clutching her pillow. Her eyes welled up but no tears fell.

"Skye?" he called out to her, staying stationary at his spot just outside her bunk.

"Just... go away," her voice broke. His heart broke. He couldn't just leave her. No, he couldn't so without another thought, he walked in and carried her off her bed in bridal-style. She kicked, punched, rebelled and demanded him to put her down but he just took everything in calmly; even though he was awfully fretful what had occurred; then continued marching down the stairs and into the lab of Fitz-Simmons.

"I'm fine, Ward," she retorted, as he put her down on the metal examination table.

"Of course you are," he spoke. She scowled at him. He stood by her side with his arms crossed, impatiently waiting for Simmons who now was shuffling for medical equipment and gloves.

"Right, what exactly have you been experiencing, Skye?" she asked, instructing Skye to sit up. She did as Simmons says and groaned, "Seriously, I'm fine."

"Yeah right," Ward scoffed.

"Now now, be nice. Skye, I really need you to tell me what you're experiencing," Simmons insisted gently. Ward looked at Skye fiercely, forcing her to speak through his eyes. Her pain had slowly settled down.

"Fine but he has to go," she demanded.

"Not a chance," he grumbled.

"If it helps. Ward, please," Simmons pleaded. He sighed agitatedly and gave in, walking away and glancing back at Skye as many times as he could until she was out of his sight.

"Right, what is it you wanted to tell me?" Simmons reminded. Skye looked around the lab, as though searching for the least embarrassing explanation for her 'illness'. Her stomach still hurt though but it was bearable. Her emotional thoughts somehow went away. The way she felt at the moment was vastly different to when it was a minute ago. The change in emotions was too drastic that she, herself, was confused. Right now, all she could think about was, well, a certain specialist trained in espionage.

"Skye?" Simmons called. She snapped out of her thoughts. How exactly should she explain this to Simmons?

"Well, you know, us females... once a month?" she started, giving Simmons a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, did you mean menstruation?"

"Shhhhh... Not too loud. Are you trying to make the whole Bus hear you?" she hushed, silently but sternly. Simmons covered her mouth and smiled sheepishly, "Sorry. But what you're experiencing is primary dysmenorrhoea. It really is something common."

"I know that. Well, not the science bit. And that's why I said I was fine but, it did hurt like hell."

"Hmm, well, have you been stressed up lately?"

"No, not exactly," she paused, wanting to hide the fact that she had been thinking about her past over and over again even until late in the night these past few days. Her body hadn't been nice to her, jerking her to wake up every hour every night. But she couldn't tell anyone about that, now can she? She didn't want anyone to be worried for her. Especially her S.O. She can't allow emotions to get the better of her. So it's time that she covered up her emotional stress with an exaggerated fact, "I mean, Ward's been giving me a great deal of training."

"Alright then. I shall just give you anti-prostaglandins. I'll make sure Ward knows about this," Simmons told, walking back to her work station.

"God no. Seriously, don't, it's already embarrassing as it is with you."

"Nonsense, we're both girlies here. And he should know, seeing the he's the one training you loads."

"Great."

"Hey, at least you have an excuse to make him your little pet for the day. I do that with Fitz all the time, he just takes as it is. He doesn't even need to ask why anymore," Simmons told with a cheeky smile.

"But it's Ward, he'll be all... Ward," Skye sulked.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Skye."

"Alright, fine," she mumbled, grabbed the medicine and made her way up towards her bunk, with Simmons trailing behind her. He was pacing around the common area, rubbing his chin with one hand and the other on his hip. He then looked up, alerted by her shuffling noises but she just avoided him and dashed straight to her bunk.

Simmons went up to him, glancing at Skye and informed, "Well, I have given her anti-prostaglandins to reduce her primary dysmenorrhoea so she should be –"

"Simmons, English," he sighed to Simmons who then whispered into his ear.

"Oh," he drawled with his heart stopping for a second, relieved that it wasn't anything dreadful. Simmons nodded slowly with a cringing smile and advised, "She should be well looked after."

"Okay," he spoke in casual tone, thinking that it wasn't a big fuss because it was a monthly occurrence. If she could bear it alone for all those years, every month, then it wouldn't be too hard for her to deal with it this time.

"I was talking about you... looking after her," Simmons told. He cocked an eyebrow, demanding an explanation. "Look, she's going through a tough time. Can't you take her mind off things?" she whispered, glancing at Skye's bunk. He did the same and whispered back, "Can't you take care of her? Female needs, not my area of expertise."

"I can't. I need to evaluate the liquefied cadaverine and extract the different compounds produced during the putrefaction of the animal tissue to –"

"Done. Just stop doing that," he groaned then went to Skye's unclosed bunk and knocked on the door lightly. She looked up, still feeling quite humiliated that Simmons had to tell him about her situation.

"Do you need anything?" he asked, pursing his lips. She shrugged and replied, "I don't think so." He gave a nod and began to walk away when she muttered, "Wait. Can I have tea?" He didn't say anything but she knew that he was going to do it anyway. "With a wedge of lemon in it?" she added, feeling a little bossy. He looked at her with that brooding stare of his and started to leave until she; wanting to take full advantage of her current dominance; continued, "And maybe a couple of snacks?" He bit his lip and finally marched out, ignoring her but taking note as she yelled out other requests.

And there he was, dipping a tea bag into her cup of hot water then proceeded to drop a lemon wedge in. He rolled his eyes, finding it hard to believe how he was here, in the kitchenette, making her tea and complying her every request. However, he wasn't all that bothered. She was his rookie and he needed to take care of her, to protect her. That was all that is, right?

But there she was, hugging her knees and smiling to herself like a mouse on crystal meth. It was some kind of adrenaline rush; ordering Ward around like he was some kind of a personal assistant. She could get used to this. Warm fuzzy feelings fluttered in her heart while she thought of her very own S.O. Why was she so touched by him making her tea? And before when he carried her to Simmons? He could have just left her. He could have just ignored Simmons' advice. He could have refused to make her tea with a slice of lemon wedge in it. Yet he didn't. That's saying something, isn't it? _"No, you don't want to fall deeper into the whole cliché situation you've got going on," _she reprimanded herself, shaking her thoughts and blaming it on hormones; that she wouldn't be thinking any of this if she weren't emotionally unstable.

"Thanks," she pronounced, still feeling a little bit warm and fuzzy on the inside. He didn't bother a smile and tossed a couple of chocolate bars on her bed. She took a sip and raised her eyebrows spontaneously, rather impressed with his tea. He turned away, all ready to leave.

"Leaving me all alone? Such a great supervising officer," she mocked, cupping her warm tea in her cold hands. He faced her and answered, "What exactly can I do to entertain you?"

"Talk? Have you ever had a decent conversation about anything under the sun, Agent Ward?" She patted the spot beside her and he curved a smile then accepted her invitation. "Is there something you want to talk about?" he asked. She took another sip, "Hmm?"

"This morning in the kitchen?"

"Oh," she understood and continued with a catch in her throat. Nope, she wasn't going to tell him her story. "That was nothing. I was just... thinking."

"About?"

"Look, can we just leave that for now and play 'I spy'?"

"No."

"Is the big bad super spy afraid I'm going to beat him in a game of 'I spy'?"

"What? No, it's a kid's game."

"Well, a perfect game for you then. Okay, I spy, with my little eye, something white," she started, putting her cup on the bedside table. He sighed and shook his head, amused by her sudden childish spirit and played along, "Your pillow?"

"How did you know?!" she gasped, over-dramatically, "That's cheating. Okay, here's another one –"

"How is that cheating? And no, it's my turn. Shh, it's my turn," he argued teasingly when she retaliated. She let out a soft chuckle and waited for him to continue. "I spy, with my eye, something blue." She looked at him with narrowed eyebrows. Her eyes then rummaged through her bunk, in search for something blue. Black, brown, white, cream, purple but no blue. She bit her bottom lip. For sure he was clever enough to come up with a not so obvious solution but she was determined she could outsmart him.

"The... holocom?" she answered slowly with a smug on her face. He pulled a look, impressed with her response but shook his head brazenly, "No."

"The... the sky then?"

"Hey, you've had your chance. And it was wrong. No second chances."

"Fine. What is it then?" she huffed, crossing her arms.

"My socks."

"What? Your socks?" she questioned as he lifted his pants slightly to reveal a blue sock. She scowled at him and punched his arm. "That's not fair! How would I know you're wearing blue socks?"

"Well, that's the point. You need to evaluate every possibility," he crooned in a serious tone.

"Really, Ward?" She wore a straight face, "you're making 'I spy' into a training session?"

"It's pretty reasonable, considering it has the word 'spy' in the name," he mumbled. She started to burst out laughing until the piercing pain came back. She groaned, placed a hand on her stomach and leaned forward.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, just don't make me laugh." Oh dysmennorhoea.

* * *

**AN: So the 'I spy' scene did happen to me and my best friend, James :) ****The next one may be a long one or it may be split into parts, I'm not sure yet but it's revolved around tension (dun dun dun).**

**Question: Where do you want the next one to be held?  
**

**A. **Astor's Annual Ball in Milan, Italy (formal fancy outfits - there'll be ballroom dancing)_**  
**_

**B. **Garden Party in Winchester, England (semi-formal outfits)

**C. **LIV Nightclub in Miami Beach, USA (casual night-out outfits)


	5. Tension (Part I)

_~ Series of one shots of the adorable couple, SkyeWard ~_

**AN: Option A won! ****Thanks for the reviews lovelies :) I hope you enjoy this one!**

**Set after 1x09**

* * *

"Just clarifying, that night was just a one-time thing, right?" he whispered extra quietly to her. She looked at him with no sign of emotion and replied, "What night?" He smirked then both agents walked their separate ways; May to her cockpit while Ward to the bathroom. It was settled. They were never talking about that satisfying wild night they had in Ireland ever again.

Little did they know, there was an inquisitive young lady eavesdropping on their vague conversation from inside her bunk. It wasn't her fault. Had they not stand outside her bunk, she wouldn't have heard them but all the bunks looked the same. It was quite difficult to distinguish who the bunks belonged to with one quick glance.

Her heart fell. What possibly could May and Ward have been up to? She could ask them but it was all too predictable what would happen. May wouldn't say a single word. She wouldn't even give her a small sign such as a slight uncertain pattern of breathing. No. No information would fall out from the mouth of the intimidating pilot. Ward, well, he was Ward. He would probably give her extra work out to do for even thinking of prying into his personal life. Maybe she should just stay quiet. It was none of her business. Both of them were adults. They should be allowed to do whatever they wanted to without any objections.

She slid her door open and saw the science duo already filling up their stomachs with breakfast. Side by side they sat. She walked up to them and greeted, "Morning," before pouring herself a cup of coffee. Simmons smiled even with her mouth full while her other half didn't bother to look up as he was too busy devouring his bowl of Lucky Charms. Skye leaned against the kitchenette and sipped her coffee, "So, anything new?"

Simmons had to swallow her mouth full of honey oatmeal before she could even begin to open her mouth. "Nothing new. However, Fitz here just told me that Ward wasn't in his room the next morning in the hotel, "she said with no utter of curiosity in her voice and continued eating. Skye raised an eyebrow as essays of accusations ran through her mind.

"How'd you happen to know that?" Skye questioned, not that she cared.

"I wanted to borrow his aftershave. Wonder where he went," Fitz answered with a mouth full of marshmallows.

"Who knows? Out for a run maybe," Simmons spontaneously spoke. Skye smacked her lips. "Maybe. Well, I'll just go... and won't do what hacktivists usually do because of this... dog tag," she tried to remain unaltered by all the information she had received this morning but it was clearly evident in her voice so she quickly slithered back into her bunk.

She turned on her laptop and stuffed the earbuds into her ears then turned on The Hunger Games movie that she downloaded; legally; on full blast. It was clear that she was trying to distract herself from everything that was going in her mind and heart. Was it the fact that he betrayed her as an S.O. when he chose to go the Cavalry rather than the hacker? Or was it that he, as Ward, chose May over her? Maybe May was just more equipped to deal with his problems. Or maybe it was due to him knowing May much longer than he knew her? It could be due to the fact they were both agents who went through darkness, who had past demons haunting them, who felt the raging fire from the Berserker Staff. What if nothing happened and they just talked and what he meant by "one-time thing" was purely a talk they had? What if they were just drunk and one thing lead to another and it didn't mean anything? Or maybe it was simply the fact that they were indeed into each other? Either way, it shouldn't be any of her concern. It's not like she was jealous. To say that she was jealous would imply she had feelings for him. No, that can't be it. She was just disappointed her own S.O. didn't trust her enough to allow her into his life. She doesn't have any romantic feelings for him. Right?

Maybe Simmons was right. He might have gone out for a run.

The movie was 14 minutes and 38 seconds in but honestly, she couldn't figure out what had happened. What exactly was she feeling? Betrayal? Disappointment? Heartbreak? Such a mess of emotions for someone who thinks she didn't give a damn about what he did behind her back. No, of course, she didn't care. He was just her S.O. Nothing more. And certainly nothing intimate. Right?

A sudden tug on her foot woke her from her deep slumber of thought. She paused the movie and looked up and saw the very one she was thinking about glaring at her, "Hey, meeting right now." She kept quiet and slipped off her bed and followed behind him, leaving a considerably large distance between them. It was the same around the holocom. She was sure to keep her distance but he closed the gap between them and stood beside her with their shoulders touching. On her other side was none other than Agent May, with her pose and face as stoic as always. Sandwiched between the two. So what if they had a secret rendezvous that night? It's none of her business yet that dreadful sunken feeling weighed heavy in her heart.

Coulson sauntered in with a neon wash on his face as he looked down on his tablet.

"Augustine Astor," he began as candid photos of a wealthy looking man appeared up on the big screen. "Businessman, philanthropist, billionaire, net worth US$4.4 billion," Coulson reported, making eye contact with each and every member of his team then turned his attention to her, "Skye, you remember the organisation your little friend hacked SHIELD for?"

"Centipede? I thought they were only interested in the super-powered, not the super-wealthy," she answered.

"Precisely but somehow his name came up in the files you extracted from the centipede facility in Hong Kong. We need to know what he knows," he told.

"With all due respect, sir, but we can't just go up to him and say 'What up, Sir? Can you please tell us what you know about this evil project?' and expect him to give us everything. The dude's a billionaire, I'm pretty sure he's backing Centipede. And if he's really backing them, all the more reason for him to be even more cautious because they already know SHIELD's onto them," Skye expressed her thoughts. Fitz-Simmons looked at her, nodding but refused to put a word in; it wasn't their place to speak. Ward looked down at his usually laidback trainee firing away relevant theories in the coldest tone he'd ever heard her use. What had gotten into her?

"I know but we need proof. SHIELD cannot infiltrate the complex encryption in his firewalls wirelessly which is why we need you to extract the files from the inside," Coulson instructed.

"Using this," Fitz interjected and showed Skye a black heart-shaped locket.

"Black onyx with small marcasite and sterling silver, it's really pretty, isn't it?" Simmons sighed in awe of the locket. Skye faked a smile. No, she wasn't interested in the locket.

"Oi, I'm talking," Fitz fussed. Simmons scrunched up her nose and he continued to explain, "It is equipped with a magnetic microchip inside and all you have to do is touch the locket against the hard drive for a few seconds and it hacks into the server locally then voila, extraction of computer files."

"Astor's having his annual ball in Milan tonight. You and Ward will go in as a couple since it's a 'couple only' invitation," Coulson directed. Ward nodded. Skye wasn't pleased. And emotions got the better of her.

"Whoa wait. If the mission's that simple, why not make May and Ward go in? Pretty sure they won't get distracted by the pressure of establishing social affiliations," she objected tensely. Ward crossed him arms and furrowed his eyebrows at her with confusion. May glanced at her impassively. Fitz-Simmons exchanged looks. Coulson wore a calm expression on his face. She didn't do anything wrong now, did she?

"The computer is guarded in a room locked with an advanced security system that only your knowledge of computer science can hack into," Coulson inferred. Skye pursed her lips. She shouldn't be feeling the repulsion of the whole situation. She thought she had put aside all feelings of resentment but it all came back flooding. Coulson began to walk off until he stuck up a finger, spun around and curved a faint smile, "Also, you and Ward make a more believable couple."

They glanced at each other; a slightly annoyed look plastered on her face and he mirrored her look. He was just irritated why she was being so frustrated all of a sudden. He was sure that she'd be jumping for joy that this was her first undercover mission since the whole Miles incident. Apparently not.

"We reach Milan in 4 hours." May left the four of them standing around the holocom. Skye groaned and held out a hand, "Just give me the necklace."

"Hold on, I still need to determine how to target the exact files we want so you won't be stuck in there longer than necessary," he grumbled then walked back down to his lab with Simmons behind him.

She retraced her steps towards her bunk. Ward followed her, curious about her immediate change in attitude. "Is there something wrong?"

"No," she rolled her eyes, "Not at all."

"Really? Then what was that just now?"

"Nothing, I was focusing on the whole mission. That's all."

"Yeah? Because what I saw was not focusing. It was pissed," he pointed out. Busted. But no, he can't know he real thoughts. She shook her head and placed a hand in front of her as she lied, "It's nothing. I'm just still tired with the whole Tobias Ford incident yesterday. Rough landings aren't exactly relaxing." She forced a smile to divert his suspicions. It worked and he walked away with a smirk on his face.

Her door was closed. Her head hung low as she sat timidly on her bed. May and Ward. Ward and May.

_"Get a grip of yourself. You don't want to screw this up,"_ she reminded herself. How could she bring herself into this position? It was only yesterday when she had that silent bonding time with May in the cockpit. And she loved that. She looked up to May like a little kid looking up at a superhero. May was a legend. An impossibly silent legend though. To have already built that solid friendship, it would be stupid to break it apart just because she was envious or even more, jealous, of May's relationship with Ward. No, Skye valued friendships more than romantic relationships. She was not going to let some night between the two come in between everything she had tried so hard to gain.

Time flew in the Bus and she managed to distract her mind with the beautification of herself. Coulson had given her a sleek emerald green dress. _"Why does Coulson have a dress for me, all ready to wear?" _she thought to herself. It was strange to think that Coulson owned a dress. "_Imagine this: AC secretly strutting around his office in this dress,"_ she chuckled to herself. What a thought.

_Knock knock._

"You ready?" a familiar voice called out to her.

"Yeah," she replied, sliding her door opened. He sucked in a gasp but stopped himself from showing anymore reaction upon seeing his 'date' for the evening. Simmons placed a hand over her heart, mesmerized by the beauty standing in front of her. Fitz was staring at her with his mouth slightly ajar.

"Oh Skye, you look absolutely stunning," Simmons praised gleefully. Skye batted her eyelashes and thanked, "Thanks. Well, since I didn't go senior prom, might as well enjoy this."

"Excellent," Coulson complimented, passing fake IDs to Skye and Ward.

"Lola Carr? You're not serious?" she scoffed with a smile on her face then peeped on Ward's ID which said 'Oliver Harrington' and complained, "At least his name is decent."

"What? Lola is nice name," Coulson assured before May started to brief, "Get in, get it done then get out. We'll be at the Southeast entrance, waiting for extraction. Any problems, call for back up."

The couple nodded to each other as the others scattered. She was just about to follow Coulson when Ward stopped her, "You're forgetting something." She looked down and there was the black locket, coiled in the middle of his palm. She reached out for it but he pulled away and motioned her to lift her hair. She did hesitantly and sighed, "You know I can put it on myself."

"I know," he muttered as he fastened the clasp. She fixed her hair and looked at him. He does look good in a suit. Their eyes locked for a second until she broke it off and walked away.

They arrived at their location. It's game on. Skye and Ward strolled down the red carpet side by side; smiling and trying their best to avert attention. It was difficult, especially when Augustine Astor was stationed at the entrance and had taken an interest on the paired couple so they had no choice but to acknowledge the host and his hostess.

She snaked her arm around his arm.

"What are you doing?" he grumbled under his breath. She continued smiling for photos and replied, "Acting like a couple."

"Well, with that kind of attitude, even a monkey can tell we're not a couple," he mentioned. She ignored him unlike Fitz who had started babbling about how intelligent creatures monkeys are through their earpieces and Simmons having to shut him up.

"Mr Astor and his lady, wonderful place you have here. I'm Lola, Lola Carr," Skye introduced herself. Exchange of names and friendly gestures were in order until they were finally inside. Elegant gowns and tuxedos flooded the grandiose Italian mansion. No time to mingle. They needed to get to work, even Skye understood.

"Get to work," Ward whispered in her ear as though she couldn't hear May's exact orders in her other ear. She rolled her eyes but then a gentle grasp on her arm stopped her. No, it wasn't Ward. It was a couple of couples adoring our undercover couple like a couple of fangirls crowding around Stark Tower. Skye glanced at Ward, searching for a way out. He showed nothing.

"Can I just say that you two make a beautiful couple," the one with curly blonde locks said. Skye laughed nervously and thanked her, dreading on the inside on how to get rid of them and how incredibly awkward this was.

"Tell us your story," another one with black hair prompted.

"Oh, it's just another boring story. Pretty sure you don't want to hear ours," Skye declined. By this time, the blonde had released her hand grip on Skye but her eyes were still well and firmly fixed on the two of them.

"Nonsense, tell us. We want to hear how you two became a couple," the black-haired lady persisted. Our brunette looked at her usually cool S.O. slightly buckling under the situation.

"It all started 2 years ago," Ward started after Coulson's orders to make up a story floated into their ears.

"Honey, it was 3 years ago. Men, they can never remember dates," she joked and all the women laughed while the men nodded, agreeing with him when he said, "Can't believe I put with her for that long." He slid an arm around her waist and insisted, "Well... babe, why don't you tell them since you remember everything."

She narrowed her eyes into a soft glare and continued, "Well, he was a boring, by-the-book kind of guy."

"She was stubborn and never took anything seriously," he butted in. She raised an eyebrow and said dryly, "Thank you... sweetie. Anyway, I guess we saw the similarities in our differences and put it all aside. He was super secretive but _people keep secrets for a reason_, right? But then he brought me to a hotel in Ireland and... unexpected things that I never thought would happen happened and here we are now, living happily ever after."

Ward looked at her, concerned with her sarcastic words. The women were awing and giggling, "He proposed in Ireland! How wonderful!" She just laughed along; neither admitting nor denying their assumptions; but managed to keep a cold and distant aura towards him.

It seemed like hours but the women and men finally left them.

"What the hell was that?" Ward semi-shouted.

"Apparently we make a good couple."

"Skye, you know what I'm talking about."

She sighed with frustration.

"_Guys, focus," _May spoke into their earpieces. Skye sighed. To be honest, she hated the way she was acting but she just can't seem to act sensibly so she declared, "Look, it's nothing important. Right now, I have to do my job so watch my six." Ward tightened his jaw. His eyes followed her as she wandered off gracefully into the crowd. _"Why is she so worked up?"_ He should have known the answer but he didn't.

**To be continued...**

* * *

_**AN: So I decided to break it up into two parts however, review what you think of it so far! :)**_


	6. Tension (Part II)

_~ Series of one shots of the adorable couple, SkyeWard ~_

**_AN: You guys are awesome! Thanks for the reviews :) Here's part 2. I hope you like it!_  
**

**Tension (Part II)**

* * *

"Can you guys hear me?" she whispered to her team as she scanned the whole second floor of the mansion.

"Affirmative." Ward was the first one to respond followed by Simmon's usual bubbly tone of, "Yes." Skye nodded, as though they could see her when she began to approach a large door with a small keypad attached in place of a door handle. She clicked her tongue as she checked the technology then smirked when it was just a six-code combination security lock. She flashed out her phone and began hacking into the system, swiping and typing until a simple click was audible.

She looked back one last time, making sure no guards or any human beings were lurking in the corridor behind her.

"Wow Fitz, you'd love the tech in here, super sci-fi," she gawped at the sight of the futuristic equipment.

"Does it have a holocom and 3D projector?" Fitz questioned, wanting her answer to be no. It would seem amateurish if the room had no such technology but she replied, "It's like the freaking Enterprise in here." It was safe to say that Fitz was rather distraught that Skye, instead of him, was in that room.

"Skye, just –" Ward's voice cut off abruptly. She pushed her earpiece as far into her ear as she could.

"Ward? Can you – Can you hear me?" she spoke louder and a little panicky, "May? Can you guys hear me?" No response. _"Crap."_

"Skye?" Ward whispered loudly. No answer. He didn't bother calling out to the team, knowing that their communication was cut. He clenched his jaw. Great.

"Skye? Agent Ward? We can hear you. Do you copy?" May called out. Nothing. She turned to Coulson who had a finger on his lips, "They can't hear us, May." The four agents looked at each other, all but May had anxious looks on their faces.

Ward had been in such situations before and he had never crumbled. Ever. However, this time it was different. The thought of his rookie being alone; not to mention, angered by something that he didn't know about; killed him. Had something happened to her? Is she safe? How is he to protect her when he doesn't know what's going on? He could leave his post but his orders were to just be the 'date' and make sure everything goes swimmingly. Still, dread overwhelmed in him.

"Where is your beautiful lady?" He turned to see Augustine Astor standing beside him with a glass of champagne in his hand. Ward trembled on the inside. Small talk was not his thing but then her advice whispered in his mind, _"Be friendly, Agent Ward. Can you be friendly?"_

"She went to the lady's," he covered up. Astor chuckled. So did he, nervously.

"Is everything okay? With her?" Astor asked, genuinely concerned. Ward cleared his throat. He knew he shouldn't expose his relationship with Skye, especially with a man who he knew that was linked to Project Centipede. And that the unclear resentment she was giving him was not something that should be discussed but a little bunny was jumping around in his heart, forcing him to speak out, "The problem is I don't know what I did."

Astor nodded. "Women. I have been married to one for 24 years and I still don't know what she means by 'It's not what you said, it's how you said it.' But what only matter is that you love her, right?"

Ward looked at him, dumbfounded and not knowing what to say. He loved Skye? Yeah, feelings were there but to say that he loved her was too soon. He was still confused about his whole love life. Not that he liked May or anything. What they did was pure sexual release. It wasn't love and he wasn't expecting them to get into a relationship. Not at all.

He couldn't fork out a word so he just smiled.

"Dance with her when she comes back."

"Oh no, sir, I don't –"

"Dance! Dancing is a way of expressing love. You must dance. Don't make me upset, boy," Astor forced with a cheeky grin. Ward gave a tight-lipped smile, "Of course, sir." Astor chortled and walked away, gesturing a thumbs up.

Ward scratched his eyebrow. _"Great."_

She had started rummaging through the room with her eyes, frantically wanting to find the mainframe. In the mist of all the advanced systems, a simple computer wasn't something obvious. It wasn't hidden but it blended into the scene that it took her 3 times until she figured out that the small plastic box at the corner of the room was the device she was looking for.

She tip-toed to it while unhooking the necklace then grasping it in her palm. _"This must be it,"_ she thought. Mind you, she was a tech wiz but having to carry out such a simple task created clouds doubts in her brain. No manual hacking into the servers. No breaking into firewalls. It couldn't be this simple.

She positioned the locket against the mainframe and prayed, "Please work." She knew Fitz had said it took a couple of seconds but how long was 'a couple of seconds'? Her heart palpitated a tiny bit faster every time she looked back to check for any human presence. She counted to ten but those ten seconds felt like ten minutes. And she didn't even know whether the locket worked.

"_Where is she?"_ he thought. She wasn't gone long but it was long enough. And he was getting concerned.

"Let's go," she broke his worry and was already making her way through to crowd. He grabbed her hand, remembering how Astor wanted them to dance. Deep down, in that small little crevice in his heart, he desperately wanted to dance with her.

"Dance with me," he whispered. She raised an eyebrow crossly and scowled, "We have no time."

"Astor's got his eyes on us," he scowled back. She tightened her lips and glanced around the room to find that Astor was indeed looking at them. She smiled at him. His thumb grazed over her knuckles ever so slightly. She faced him but avoided his eyes, contemplating whether she should.

"Fine," she relented, "But I don't know how to dance."

"I'll lead." She frowned as he slid his hand behind her, pulled her towards him until their bodies were flushed against each other. His warm hand held her cold hand gently as her other hand fell on his bicep. He took a step forward. She was taken aback by his gesture that she took a step back. He took another step forward. She took another step back. Soon, they were dancing.

"Look into my eyes," he ordered. She looked up coldly into his towering chocolate brown eyes. She hadn't said anything. She didn't want to. And that bothered him.

She wanted to not care. She wanted to just forget about it all. However, every time he spoke, a fire struck in her heart. If she hadn't known he'd been fraternizing with May, maybe she could relish their little dance. And then, relishing that made up scenario of them being a couple. Of him actually liking her. Not anymore. He clearly didn't have any feelings for her in that way.

Her lips quivered just slightly and her eyes glinted with a few drops of livid tears.

And then it dawned on him. It all clicked. She knew.

His facial expression didn't change. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Was he remorseful? Was he not? Was he angry? Was he going to scold her for finding out? Does he care that she's hurt? No, she couldn't decipher his thoughts and she hated that.

He didn't speak but just clenched his jaw and she knew very well what he was thinking. They danced, with eyes glaring into the other. They didn't talk. There was no need to. She wanted to let go and storm off but she just couldn't bring herself to. It was that heated dance that one just can't refrain from. That kind of dance where their hands grabbed a little tighter. That kind of dance where their bodies stood a little bit closer to feel the warmth between them. That kind of dance with a person that you'd love to hate but would hate yourself if you do.

They were lost. Lost in each other's eyes. Lost with each other.

...

"Now, I know very well that the mission was a success but what happened out there with you two was unacceptable," Coulson scolded as he threw a file on his table. Skye kept her head low. Ward stood up straight with his hands behind his back. Yes, the whole team heard the bitterness between them. "I don't want to hear or see a repeat of that. Work it out," his words echoed in his quarter. Skye nodded then exited the room with Ward closely behind her.

They kept quiet the whole way of what seemed to feel like a long 2 minutes of walking to the lounge area.

"Skye," he faltered with a heavy lump in his throat. He knew he should say something but his brain couldn't put together words that he knew she wanted to hear.

She turned to face him with her arms crossed and wore a 'Ward' facial expression.

"Things between us... It's complicated," he began as she remained silent, giving him a chance to speak. "I know I hurt you and... I'm sorry."

She glanced down to her feet. _"Yeah, about time you figured it out. Do you know how idiotic I feel? Alright, fine, it's not like you cheated on me or anything. Hell, we haven't even talked about feelings. Probably we won't. But I'm pretty sure you felt something, right? Why, Ward?" _she thought to herself.

"Let's just look at this way: we're even," she teased mockingly then left him standing with a smirk on his face.

* * *

**AN: ****Should I give you a little hint for the next one? No? Yes? Oh fine, I shall :P **

**The hint is: Knots. **


	7. Knots

_~ Series of one shots of the adorable couple, SkyeWard ~_

**_AN: 57 favs and 103 followers?! *sniff sniff* I'm going to cry. You guys are amazing. _**

**_The prompt for this one was given by Leo and backed up by Wolf's Edge and OneFineDay. I hope you enjoy this one :)_**

**Leo's prompt:_____"What about one where Ward hurts himself and Skye gives him a massage?"_**

**Set after 1x08 **

* * *

It was his rhythm. _Jab. Jab. Jab jab_. His rhythm of the violent punches on the punching bag. He was punishing the poor bag. A form of rage release. The only way he could cope with the hot fire in his chest. And also the fact that he was forced to chase his rookie around the cargo hold because she wanted a 10 minute break and he didn't allow it.

She won.

So there she was, perching obediently on the spiral steps with a creased up face.

"You're kidding," she groaned in frustration as she saw the big bold red words on her laptop screen saying 'Denied'. Low muffles escaped from her mouth as she punched the keys on her keyboard madly, trying to find a way around her problem. _Denied._ She groaned again.

"What now?" he said, stopping in a middle of a punching spree. She kept her eyes fixed on the screen, still on a typing frenzy but managed to grumble while jiggling her wrist in the air, "This stupid... bracelet."

He threw another two punches then glared at her. She stopped and looked at her panting S.O. with a childish pout. It wasn't him she was annoyed with. It was that damn silver bracelet around her wrist. She understood why Coulson did what he did but to block out her most important daily routine? That was way over the line.

"I can't check on the Avengers," she sulked. He raised his eyebrow and informed, "That's classified."

"No, this one isn't SHIELD based. Some fan made an Avengers website for the entire world to join and discuss their favourite Avenger," she spoke to the skeptical Ward who was worried about her mental health.

"I mean, I _need_ to know if there are new members in the Iron Man brethren and then check what Mr Tony Stark is doing for the weekend and wipe that look of your face, I'm not a crazy stalker fan but I need my daily dose of Stark because oh my god, the man's a genius," she rambled on before stopping for a single gasp of air, "Have you seen his tweets?! Pure gold."

He licked his lips and waved a hand in front of him, "Is this what you during your breaks? Tweet? Do something useful like sit ups."

"Uh, doing sit ups is not taking a break from training, Terminator." She cocked an eyebrow and formed a half-smile. She focused back onto her screen and tried to make full use of the 5 minutes remaining.

He rolled his eyes and continued murdering the punching bag. _Jab. Jab. Jab jab. Argh._ A sudden sharp soreness surged along his shoulders. He shrugged and stretched out a little, cracking his neck at the same time. _"Okay,"_ He breathed in, _"again."_

_Jab. Argh._ He shrugged again, slightly rubbing his sore shoulders. It was nothing. Just a sore pain that he had been feeling more and more lately. No biggie.

_Jab. Argh._ Yeah alright, this time it really hurt him. He circled the bag, rubbing the back of his neck when clearly he should be rubbing his shoulders.

She caught a glimpse of his troubled face and his unusual circling around the bag so she decided to ask, "What's up with you?"

He looked up with a controlled painful expression and shook his head. Lucky for him, she was not one to buy his macho persona. She closed her laptop and placed it carefully at the step just above the one she was sitting on then curved a finger back and forth, "Come here."

"No, you come here and continue," he bantered.

"Yeah no. My break is not over so you can't boss me around just yet," she dominated for which he reluctantly walked to her. She spun a finger. He complied and turned around. She tugged on his arms and forced him to sit down two steps beneath her._ Thud._

"What are you doing?" he growled, looking back over his shoulder.

"Shh. Calm down," she asserted before planting a light slap on his strong back. Then grinned. It was a good thing Ward had been busting his ass and working out all these time. It gave her something to appreciate about him. Not that she didn't appreciate him as a person, but the physical aspects of him were quite a bonus, right?

Her hands so casually began to knead his shoulders but he didn't like it at all and not to mention, was exaggeratedly jumpy by it.

"Yes Ward, we're totally having a tickle fight," she told sarcastically, pressing down on his shoulders to tame him. He looked over his shoulder and growled in aggravation. He just couldn't help it. It was a natural reflex for him. He didn't want her to know that fact about him. And he knew she was kidding but he couldn't fully trust her. She was Skye after all. Who knows what she's up to?

She started kneading his shoulders slowly, having to stop every time he flinched. She wasn't an expert but anyone could tell that he had seriously tight muscles. "Relax. I can't massage you if you're all tensed up," she said. He stood up and scowled, "I didn't ask for a massage, did I? Come on." He motioned her to the punching bag.

"But you need one, pronto," she gave him puppy dog eyes and tugged on his arms again to force him to sit down in front of her. He growled but gave in anyway.

"Your muscles are really knotted," she informed, distracted by his condition. He said nothing and tried to relax but he just kept cringing. It wasn't just due to the ticklish sensation he was getting. Don't get him wrong; he was strangely comforted by her touch but he sat there with a glower on his face, thinking why on earth he allowed her to massage him. He could've walked away. He could've grabbed her and tied her upside down then used her for a punching bag so that she would learn her lesson for not concentrating during their training sessions. Yet, he found himself surrendering to her small hands.

To her surprise, he was actually quite calm now. His eyes were closed. His squirming had reduced but as soon as she moved her hands near his neck, the flinching fits happened again. Maybe he wasn't ticklish as how she first thought he was. Maybe it was much more than that. She bit her lips and squeezed the lower section of his neck and as anticipated, he squirmed. Yep, it was much more than that.

"It's more than just being ticklish, isn't it?" she whispered into his left ear. He slithered a glare as he opened his eyes and tsked. She frowned and continued running her hands along the curve of his neck, shoulders and down his back. He moaned as soon as she hit the right spot and she, being the mischievous person that she is, pressed harder than she should. She smirked when she felt him trying to contain a painful groan under her fingertips.

His breathing slowed then he heaved a sigh. His stance of a gladiator with head high and shoulders back turned into a submissive slumped shoulder. His stoic wall crumbled. It had begun to crumble bit by bit ever since the first time they met.

He leaned back closer to her as though he wanted to say something. She stopped massaging and kept her hands on his shoulders. His head fell forward, rested his elbows on his thighs then laced his fingers together before he faltered, "I know it's decades ago and you probably think I'm pathetic but he's just imprinted so deep in me that I just can't..." he abated and tightened his jaw. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she breathed out.

"It's okay," she coaxed then carefully wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her chin on his shoulder. He looked down at her, staggered by her actions. Her doe brown eyes looked up into his teary rimmed eyes. That constant strong glare in his eyes was replaced by a look of consternation. She finally saw vulnerability in him and assured herself that he wasn't a heartless machine. He looked away, refusing to let her see into his soul.

"Every time someone gets near my neck..." he began with a soft tone, "I fear they are going to strangle me... Like _he_ did." She snuggled in closer into the curve of neck, understanding that he was referring to his older brother. He swallowed and pointed his nose to the ceiling, biting his lower lip. He wanted to forget everything. He wanted to erase the memory but they were knotted so tightly and tangled with his heartstrings that it was all such a huge mess. He couldn't loosen those dark memories without unravelling everything else. Like a fly caught in a wicked black widow's web, he was trapped. Every form of light and freedom was just beyond his reach. He only wanted to find a way out.

She wanted to understand his pain. She wanted to say that she knew exactly how he felt but she didn't. She didn't know how it was to have an abusive brother. She didn't know how it was to cope and live in fear every day. Her pain was different to his. Her pain was a pain of allegiance. The Rising Tide or SHIELD. An invisible line of loyalty. A constant tug of war. However, her problems were the least of her priorities at the moment.

"We're not going to hurt you," she mumbled into his shoulder. He tilted his head to rest on her head and his hand, without hesitation, held hers tightly. She reciprocated his action by tightening her grip around his waist and adding, "I'm not going to hurt you."

His eyes were closed. Her eyes were wide open. His hand was warm. Her hand was cold. His heart maintained a constant steady pace. Her heart was beating fast. Both were scared.

He inhaled the sweet scent of her orange blossom shampoo. A scent he had gotten used to after her numerous attempts of disarming a gun from him. Something so sweet couldn't possibly hurt him, right? She was going to be there for him whether he liked it or not and he was sure it wasn't the latter. His heart fluttered with not infatuation but affection. She was too diferent from him that she was perfect. Too perfect.

They remained in their position for as long as they could. Peaceful and comfortable. No, they didn't need more but less was not desirable. They didn't want a conversation. They didn't want to fall to pieces. What they had was tasteful. Just having their bodies close and their fingers intertwined was enough.

He cleared his throat then released her hand. She lazily let him go and stood up at the same time that he did. He faced her. She stood a few steps above him, towering just slightly but that didn't stop them from gazing longingly into each other's eyes. Both were speechless, lost for words but that's how they liked it. Silence was their answer.

"Your break went 10 minutes over. You know the drill," he broke the silence, implying a 150 push ups demand which she immediately understood.

"Well, your wiring's all knotted in there. Should I get Fitz or should I get the x-ray glasses and check you out myself?" She arched an eyebrow and curved a sly smile. He rolled his eyes and scoffed a chuckle before dragging her towards the punching bag instead, "Come on, we'll go easy."

She groaned. "Tis torture, not mercy."

* * *

_**AN: What up Shakespeare reference :P Have you guys read Brett Dalton's tweets?! Pure gold!**_

_**So for the next one, I was hoping you guys could give me a ONE WORD prompt and as usual, Eenie minie miney mo :)**_


	8. Game

_~ Series of one shots of the adorable couple, SkyeWard ~_

_**AN: Thanks guys! The prompts you gave me were really uberly awesome :) However, after the midseason finale, I just couldn't... My brain just exploded. I kept changing between the prompts and just when I thought it was going well, my mind went blank. I think I wrote five different ones :/ I'm not happy with this but hopefully it's not too bad.**  
_

**Bonnie Radcliffe's prompt: "Game"**

**Set after 1x10**

* * *

She leaned against his door frame, hiding one hand behind her and observed her SO. His face was a mess, all covered with bloody cuts, scratches and bruises. If they had changed the way he looked, it only changed for the better. Scratches and bruises looked good on him. There was something about the injuries that made him look tougher and chivalrous and beyond attractive. Take attractive and multiply that by a thousand. And add a little sexy in there somewhere.

He was only wearing a grey singlet that had minor splashes of blood around his chest area. Blood seeped through the white bandage around his left bicep as a reminder she should be thankful that the bullets only pierced through his arm, not his chest.

Mike Peterson barely scraped through the explosion and if it weren't for the Extremis in his system, he wouldn't live another minute to hear his kid handing his only Captain America figurine to his father and saying, "Captain America will protect you." A second later, SHIELD HQ came to extract Mike from the scene and though Skye didn't know where they took him, she knew that medical attention was vital.

Coulson. Now, he was another story. It was impossible to conceive a single emotion when the car exploded in front of her, only to learn that he was carried away in a helicopter to an unknown location with no means of tracing him. Is Coulson safe? Where did they take him? Will she see him again? May had assured the team with her ever-condescending tone that Coulson can take care of himself. Coulson's dream team knew that very well but it didn't stop them, especially Skye, from worrying. It was in her nature. And it may seem selfish at this point but how is she supposed to find the true identity of her parents now? Only he understood her desperation.

He looked up after feeling a pair of eyes looking at him. She smiled, somehow being lost in his eyes despite the fact she was examining every line of blood planted on his face. His lips struggled to return a smile without feeling a sting from the lip split he received.

"How's Ace?" He asked.

"Surprisingly fine," she replied with a sigh, recalling her childish ordeal with little Ace Peterson; her impersonation of Black Widow while he was the Hulk; in her mind. They became quiet but their eyes were still locking before he asked another question, "Any news on Coulson?" She smacked her lips and shook her head.

"Nope, they managed to disrupt every single camera in the city. At first I thought we could track them through the sequence of the disruption of the cameras but their signals were all interfered at the same time," she informed. He nodded. Aura of solemnity cascaded from the two. It was Coulson, their leader. They would be heartless if they didn't have any sense of worry.

She frowned; uneasy with all the gloominess and that was when she pulled out a revolver from behind, and pointed it at Ward. She smirked cunningly. So long has she waited for this very moment. Slowly absorbing his instructions of operating a gun to prepare herself and gathering every speck of his trust back to stay long enough to stab him in the back.

He stood up slowly and swallowed, "Skye, what are you doing?"

She cocked back the hammer with her thumb and the cylinder clicked in place. Her finger pulled back on the trigger and just when she felt resistance, Ward called out, "Skye, stop." She aimed for his chest.

_Bang. _

He sucked a gasp and looked down on the bright red spreading across his chest. He ran his fingers over the redness and studied the liquid on his hand. He sniffed it. Not the scent of blood. Paint. Bloody red paint. He looked up with furrowed eyebrows and snarled, "Paintball? What the hell?"

"Gotcha." She blew at the muzzle and raised an eyebrow before securing the gun under her belt.

"Have you not seen this?" he questioned sternly and pointed to his bandage, "This is not a game, Skye. It's not funny." She resumed her leaning position against his door and said, "It's not funny that you almost died. Next time you scare me like that, I'll use a real gun." He scowled and wiped the paint on his singlet, furious at her behaviour. He thought she was too immature to comprehend their current predicament. He thought she was too complacent to take the situation seriously. He thought wrong.

"I thought Mike was dead," she said with a catch in her throat, "And Coulson too." She took a deep breath as she tried to prevent tears forming in her eyes. "When I saw you... motionless... I freaked. I was so scared."

"Why were you scared?" he asked softly, taking a step forward.

"Because I was worried," she broke.

"Why were you worried?" he asked again, taking another step forward.

"Because I... care about you," she whispered as her eyes looked down to her feet. He took a few steps towards her and faltered, "You care about me?"

She rolled her eyes and scoffed exasperatedly, "Yes, why else would I hack the Level 8 server?"

"You hacked the Level 8 server?" he questioned with surprise.

"Yes, I did. If it wasn't for me being a pseudo anarchist hacker type," she eyed him, "I probably wouldn't find out about your non-existent extraction and May wouldn't butt in with her kickass-Cavalry-pilot skills. And you'd probably be dead but you're Ward, you'll just have a short circuit. All I'm saying, you owe me dude."

He tightened his jaw, trying to hide his emotions of guilt. He thought it was May who saved them but it has been Skye all these while. On top of that, he doubted his very own rookie. What kind of supervising officer doubts his student?

"Are you alive in there?" she asked, searching for his eyes. He wanted to thank her and the words were dancing on the tip of his tongue but something held him back. She looked at him with wide eyes. He focused on her and pursed his lips.

"I owe you one, Skye."

* * *

**AN: Sorry if it's not good :/ This past week has been pretty hectic with my exam results coming out and May/Ward moving forward is just grrrrrr. However, my best friend made me a scrapbook and one of the pages was dedicated to our dear specialist, Agent Grant Ward :) Yay! **

**The next one is going to be Christmas themed :D It'd be nice if Coulson was there but what do you think? Should it be after the events of 'The Bridge' or just pretend like nothing has happened? **


	9. Mistletoe

_~ Series of oneshots of the adorable couple, SkyeWard ~_

**_AN: Thanks for the reviews! Here's another one :) I hope you enjoy it!_**

**DemonicAngel38's prompt:**** "Perfect"**

**Set after 1x10**

* * *

"Wake up." His low groggy voice managed to wake her up despite her reputation of being a heavy sleeper. Skye pulled her blanket over her head and groaned, "Five more minutes." It was 6 in the morning and even her body knew it was too early to wake up. Ward lazily rubbed his eyes and forced the blanket off the brunette only to find her curling up into a fetal position, hugging her pillow tighter.

"It's Christmas," he informed as though she didn't already know; she has been blabbering about Christmas to him for months during their training sessions. However, ever since Coulson's disappearance, she has kept quiet about it.

Instead of sitting up, she buried her face further under her pillow and muffled, "Letting me sleep in could be your Christmas present." Even Ward wanted to sleep in so badly but being vigilant and awake was embedded into his training that all he needed to do was wipe his face, blink a couple of times, crack his neck and suddenly, he was wide-eyed awake.

"Come on." His voice was now raised but still gravelly. Her eyes were closed as she nodded and mumbled, "Fill me in on the details later, boss." He clicked his tongue. It wasn't surprising that she'd act this way and that she couldn't rise up to the early morning of celebrations. For one, she had stayed up all night having a Christmas movie marathon to entertain her morose self. At one point, she even woke him up and asked if he wanted to watch a movie with her because she wanted company. He just gave a glare.

May eyed the duo as they entered the lounge area. Ward felt a slight shiver run down his neck upon meeting her eyes. Yes, there was something going on between them. And yes, there was also something going on between him and Skye. He didn't mean for things to fall this way but it now seemed that he was in a complicated love triangle with dotted lines. No one knew how each other stood in the other's life. May most likely categorise their relationship as 'friends with benefits'. Skye probably thought they were on mutual budding feelings. It was obvious, the answer, but Ward just didn't know who to choose.

Simmons was standing at the front with a gleeful smile, waiting patiently for the rest. Unlike his counterpart, Fitz was not a morning person. He was yawning and scratching his head while slouching against the couch with his mouth slightly ajar and his eyes barely able to stay open. Skye plopped down next to Fitz and Ward took the spot beside her.

Simmons made eye contact with everyone and began, "Happy Christmas!" Fitz mumbled a reply but fell right back to sleeping. Simmons scrunched her nose at the sight and continued nervously, "I thought we could have a little game. A treasure hunt to be exact, of Christmas ornaments."

May rolled her eyes around the room to see the reactions of the team. Fitz, who was now quite awake after hearing the word 'treasure', was at the edge of his seat, excited by the idea and ready to start straight away. Ward looked disinterested but deep down, he was quite eager to play along. It was Christmas day after all.

"What?" Skye grumbled crabbily. Ward looked at her. Skye, the bubbly and childish rookie, was nowhere near ecstatic. Her eyes fixed to a glare. Her mouth formed to a frown. Her hands were clenched.

"We don't know where the hell Coulson is and you're here, wanting to play a Christmas game as though nothing's wrong?" Skye blastered. Guilt overwhelmed Simmons. Her shoulders hunched and she fidgeted with fingers. Her lips quivered and tears welled up in her eyes. She thought it might be a good distraction from all the trauma that happened two weeks ago. She was only trying to make it a little merry.

"Skye," Ward droned with furrowed eyebrows. She rolled her eyes and sighed agitatedly before storming off to the cargo hold; not caring that she was still in her sleepwear. The team looked at each other. Simmons was already upset so Fitz went up to console her. Ward shot a glower of confusion at May. She just looked at him without any emotion.

* * *

It seemed that she had picked up her S.O.'s habit: box whenever there's anger in their hearts. She didn't care that she was in her pyjamas or that she hadn't wrapped her hand in boxing bandages or that her hair was a mess. She punched and kicked and did whatever she could to try to break the punching bag.

Ward leaned against the railings from above, observing his junior. She was upset. More enraged than upset, actually. Coulson, it was about Coulson.

She glanced up after feeling a pair of intense eyes looking down at her. She pursed her lips and muttered, "What?"

"What are you doing?" He said with a tone of sternness as he descended down the spiral stairs. She threw another 3 punches and mocked, "Knitting."

"Really?" He crossed his arms before adding, "Well then, I prefer socks than sweaters." She shook her head and resumed punching with a frown upon her face. He sighed and gripped her arm just as she wanted to throw another punch. She pulled her arm away forcefully and scowled at him.

"She was just trying to help," he breathed, looking down at her softly. She exhaled and kept her head low. She knew that she had overreacted badly at Simmons' gentle gesture but she couldn't contain her temper.

"I know but ..." she paused, trying to figure out the right words to say, "I've been trying my best to find him and it just sucks to feel like I'm the only one who's worried sick about him."

She looked at Lola, sucked in her lips and took a deep breath. It was rather true. She was the only one who has shown enough concern towards Coulson's disappearance. Fitz-Simmons were busy with their science experiments. May has been hiding in her cockpit all these while. Ward seemed to only talk to Skye during their training sessions or if there was something important only to vanish from the face of the Bus after. She's seen him talk to May over a bottle of Scotch but whenever she walked in, their conversation stops abruptly and the two agents disperse.

Secrets. So many secrets.

"Skye, we're all worried about him but there's nothing we can do. Believe me, we're all trying our best, even HQ but right now, all we can do is wait," Ward soothed. She wanted to find comfort in his words. She wanted to find relief that she was not the only one living with constant fear for their team leader. But for some reason, she couldn't.

It was better for her to just pick up her feet and leave him. His attempts of trying to make her feel better was not going anywhere. She just wasn't in the mood to be showered with his presence.

* * *

She sat the edge of her bed, thinking about Coulson yet again. If she could just find a small indication or clue, that's all she needed to open up a network of possible locations.

"Knock, knock," a Scottish accented voice said with a laugh. She looked up to see Fitz standing outside her bunk. She shuffled to the right as Fitz sat down beside her nervously. She rested her chin on her knees and waited for him to talk.

"How are you?" He asked quietly, running his fingers through his hair.

"How's Simmons?" she replied with a question. He tugged on his collar and looked at the carpet before heaving a breath, "She's been better. She's scared she's made you upset."

Skye sighed, feeling a rush of guilt. "It wasn't her fault, it's mine. I shouldn't have reacted that way."

"She said that you told her you wanted a nice Christmas," Fitz told. She closed her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows with embarrassment after remembering what she said to Simmons a few weeks back. "And with everything going on, she thought she could cheer you up with a little game."

"Oh God," she whispered, clutching her her head in her hands; feeling utterly miserable.

"I haven't been back for Christmas for 5 years. Same with Simmons," he smiled as soon as he said the name of his partner. He looked at her with saddened eyes while she refused to show him her brown eyes. "I know it was hard for the both of us and it still is. However, we know that our family are all safe. We can just call them but you... I can't imagine how hard it is for you."

Skye sniffled. The sincerity in the tone of the quirky scientist pulled on her heartstrings. Though she didn't have a proper family, she already had one. Right here in the Bus. A dysfunctional yet perfect family. People who really cared for her. It was about time she stopped being selfish and started acted like she was part of them.

"I think Coulson wouldn't like it if we spent Christmas being morose and dismal," he added. She kept quiet and Fitz knew that he should change the subject before bursts of tears erupted from the hacktivist.

"You know, I was really looking forward to the game. I was planning to use my heat scanner to analyse the most recent heat activity," he spoke smugly. She looked up and raised her eyebrows. "So basically you were planning on cheating?"

"Well, it's technically not cheating," he stuttered, "more of having a tactical plan." Fitz glanced at her nervously as she chuckled.

"Fine, let's play it then," she proposed while standing up.

"Uh, Simmons has already..." he abaned once he saw the awe in her face as she admired the beautifully decorated common area. Simmons was hanging up a bough of mistletoe when Skye walked up to her and gave a warm hug.

"I'm really sorry. I should have asked if you were alright with all of this," Simmons apologised cautiously, letting go of the hug. Skye shook her head and squeezed Simmons' hands then blurted, "No, shut up. I'm sorry. I was being a baby. Please, don't be sorry. This... this is amazing."

"Really?" Simmons asked uneasily, wanting confirmation that she was not in the wrong. Skye nodded profusely and thanked, "Thank you. For everything. This is perfect." Simmons' bubbly smile reappeared as she scooted off to get a couple more decorations.

Ward walked in and heaved a sigh noisily after observing the two ladies hugging it out. She glanced at his usually brooding supervising officer admire the glittery balls of red and green hanging around the Bus.

"Just so you know, I didn't get you a present," she casually slurred. He faced her and allowed his thumb to skimmed across his cheek. Her head turned to face him as his hand then tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. He glanced up and a little hint of mischief glinted in his eyes. Skye mirrored his actions; curious by his amusement; and snickered when she saw a small bough of mistletoe attached over their heads. They returned their gazes to each other.

He pulled her closer and jutted her chin towards him, his thumb skimming along her cheek. Both hands cupping either side of her cheeks as he planted a soft kiss on her forehead then her nose, flexing his fingers into her hair.

"Merry Christmas."

Her eyes widened briefly as she tried to absorb the situation. Her plump lips narrowed in a smile. He returned a smile when he felt her breath on his face as she spoke.

"Happy holidays."

He ran his nose along hers until their lips lined up. The kiss started of gentle and tender, allowing their feelings to flurry and their heartbeats quickened. She traced his jawline and felt the roughness underneath her fingertips. A slight flush of red appeared on her cheeks when she wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him back at his full height.

The kiss became deep and passionate and after awhile, they pulled back. Breathless and wanting air. Their foreheads resting against each other's. He stared down at her dark lashes as she looked down at her feet, feeling shy and lost for words.

It wasn't the dream Christmas she wanted but it was perfect.

* * *

**AN: HELP! I'll be going on a 3-week holiday so I need you guys to come up with a prompt! Review your prompts and I will update as soon as I get back :D *sings* I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!**


	10. Baby

_~ Series of oneshots of the adorable couple, SkyeWard ~_

**_AN: Hello there wonderful SkyeWard warriors :) Thanks so much for the reviews, favourites, follows. I know that a lot of you wanted me to make Skye find out about the BadJuJu couple *shudders* but I just can't find the right way to approach the whole thing. Because 1) the thought of BadJuJu sickens me and 2) I just want to think of SkyeWard scenes that make me go "Aww, it's so cute like little baby unicorn." So for this particular one, I hope you guys can forget anything BadJuJu and just read this fic while thinking "SkyeWard is so perfect like cookies and cream". _**

**Well, let me switch it up and put the prompt at the bottom just because it's fun like that :P**

**Set after... uhhh, I'm not too sure :/ **

* * *

It was Sunday. Sundays were usually mission free. And the mentor and student duo had agreed that every third Sunday of every month would be a day of pure nothing: No missions, no training, no lessons.

So there they were, sitting back to back on his bed; one playing away on their laptop and the other muttering the words from their book quite audibly. A few hours earlier, Skye had sneaked into his bunk to look for an interesting read. If she had a dollar for every war related novel in his collection, she'd be rich. However, she did find a novel out of the hundred books her S.O. received from his S.O, 'Tomorrow, When the War Began'.

Ward was playing Call of Duty: Black Ops to pass the time; a rather fitting game for him at that. He had walked in to her sitting on his bed, engrossed in his novel and reading it out loud. He would be furious if she didn't look so adorable; all curled up in a ball with her face scrunched up as she gave her complete attention to the words. It was her childhood habit, even he knew it. Whenever there was something important she wanted to understand, she'd articulate the words out loud. Usually, he would be bothered by low mumblings but who was he one to say? He was no better; groaning and cursing every time he died or his enemy was not defeated then declaring "Yes!" and shaking his fist in the air when he won.

They spent hours in the comfortable silence, leeching of each other's company yet staying in their own bubble of individual entertainment. Suddenly, his phone buzzed. He pressed pause and glanced at the phone. His eyes widened as soon as he read the name of his S.O. flashing on the screen.

"Ward," he answered in his professional tone while standing up. Skye, who was too focused on her novel that she didn't notice him standing, fell back on his laptop. He tightened his jaw as soon as he heard the voice of his one and only supervising officer.

"Yes, sir." He listened obediently to the spewing orders and gave an anxious look to his Skye. She gave a quick glance, sat up and returned back to reading, knowing very well that he was talking to his S.O. whose name he doesn't want to disclose for some apparent reason. His face crumbled with nervousness after hearing the orders then pressed the 'end' button.

"I have a mission," he blurted. She finished the sentence and looked up to point out, "But it's Sunday."

"Solo mission."

"Mm kay," she smacked her lips and nodded slowly before continuing reading. He raised an eyebrow, giving a confused expression. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

Skye always ranted to him before he embarked on his missions, whether it was a team mission or solo mission; advising him to think before he executed his plans and he should fight smarter, not harder. It was rather ironic that she was the one who threw all his lessons back in his face and that it was his turn to be annoyed about hearing his own words being repeated to him. He didn't know if she did it because she cared or if she was just testing his patience, however, it wasn't that he hated her babbling. Being the lone wolf for so long, he quite liked the nagging.

"I thought you didn't like me saying all those things," she mumbled, eyes still fixed on her novel. He gazed her face and smirked softly, "I never said that."

She stopped and met his eyes. "Ah, Mr. Ward wants the words of wisdom from the brains of a mighty hacker." He scratched his eyebrow and shook, "Don't flatter yourself, Miss..." He paused once he realised he didn't know her last name; one of the many things he didn't know about her. She grinned, feeling victorious as soon as she saw his eyes reaching for a way out. He pulled his best smug face and finally finished, "Miss Skye."

"Fine, Commando. Don't die," she sighed and gave him a thumbs up then dropped her eyes back to her novel. He chuckled softly and cleared his throat to signal her to leave. She didn't respond.

"Skye," he called.

"Mm?" She grunted, slightly agitated. He smiled and explained, "I need to change." He was only wearing a white v-neck and a pair of grey sweatpants.

"I've seen you shirtless before," she grumbled; her eyebrows slowly narrowing.

"You can read in your room."

"I won't peek." She was too busy concentrating to even notice him taking off his shirt.

"Come on, out," he demanded, tugging on her jumper, for which she then complied. Her eyes were still glued on the page. So when she left, she had bumped into him, and the door frame, and the sidewall then her own doorframe before surrendering down on her bed. He just shook his head at her antic.

* * *

"Go for Skye," she chirped with an energetic vibe when she answered her phone.

"It's me," he spoke. Her face beamed. "Me? I don't know anyone named Me." He rolled his eyes as a smirk formed across his lips. "You're rolling your eyes, aren't you?" she assumed accurately then questioned, "What's up?"

"I'm on my way back," he said. She smiled. "So how did your mission go?"

"An 0-8-4."

"It is purple? With a tail and a green belly? And a pearly white smile? Looks kinda freaky but is super nice?" she uttered faster than a bullet train. He shook his head. "Barney the purple dinosaur does not exist."

"Cats defy the laws of physics."

"What?"

"Exist. Physics. They rhyme?"

"No, they don't," he argued. She paused and gave a thought. He was right but like hell, she's going to admit it.

"If you have an open mind, it does," she sulked. He grinned to himself, knowing that he won. "Why'd you call anyway?" she asked with slight agitation in her voice.

"I might need a little facilitation from you," he spoke with a nervous quirk.

"So you need help? What for?"

"Just a little assistance," he insisted. She pursed her lips, annoyed by his arrogance and kept quiet. He sighed and relented, "It's better if I show you."

* * *

"Hey baby," she crooned with an arched eyebrow, looking up from her laptop. The facial expression on the stoic agent as he stood outside her bunk was priceless. And also, the gear he had on was super top notch SHIELD equipment; a nappy bag on one shoulder and a baby carrier strapped around his chest. She tightened her lips into a restrained smile. He stood there, firm and stiff as the baby wiggled its limbs.

"So the 0-8-4 is... a baby?" Skye cocked an eyebrow and drawled out her words. He tightened his jaw. The baby gurgled along with delight as Skye laughed hysterically. Her serious supervising officer stood his ground and glared at her.

"It's not funny," he mumbled softly with clenched teeth. He avoided any form of eye contact with his rookie. He didn't want her to know that this mission was impossible for him to carry out. A baby of all missions. It wasn't complex nor did it need his skills of combat or espionage. But babysitting a baby is just something he couldn't do. Looking after Skye was torturous enough.

"See, I imagined an ugly three-boobed Martian, not a cute little baby like you." She carried the 5 month old baby from the baby carrier and kissed its cheeks. The baby boy fussed and blinked a couple of times before staring at Skye with his ocean blue eyes. Skye nuzzled her nose against the baby's and used his hand to wave at Ward who replied with the rolling of his eyes. Skye giggled then handed him over to Ward who awkwardly carried him in his arms.

"I thought 0-8-4s are meant for aliens and shizz," she pointed out.

"It's an orphan. We don't know who his parents are," he frowned as he struggled to calm the fidgeting baby. Her face fell upon hearing the word 'orphan'. Another innocent child that will follow in her footsteps of spending his life wondering who his parents are.

"He's still human. Can't exactly be classified as an 0-8-4,right?" she mentioned. This time, it was his face to fall. She was right.

"Did your S.O. say 0-8-4?"

"No," he whispered in defeat.

"Did I, the tag along hayseed rookie, just catch you, SHIELD's T1000, use the wrong terminology?" He clenched his jaw. "Oh my gosh, this is amazing."

"Just take care of him," he grumbled after rolling his eyes at her. She took a step back and held both her hands up.

"Why me? It's _your_ mission," she protested. Don't get her wrong. She loved playing with babies during her time at St. Agnes. Skye loved babies. And babies loved her. But of course, she would never ever pass up the opportunity to see the robotic Ward taking care of a baby.

"Babysitting hardly counts as a mission," he straightened his arms in front of him and glared at the baby's face as though scanning for any weaponry underneath those blue eyes. She scoffed then raised her eyebrow slyly, "Well, this shouldn't be much of a challenge."

* * *

It's been 32 minutes since he last called her. And not a single sound from the baby or the grouchy agent was heard from his bunk. She could have sworn that he had called her 7 times during a short span of 15 minutes so she was curious. And rather worried.

His door was wide opened. She peeped in then leaned against the doorframe. And then a smile grew on her face as a warm fluttering sensation enveloped her heart. It was an adorable scene. Such an adorable scene.

They were both sleeping. Both were sleeping quietly. His back was against the bed head and in his arms was the baby boy; snuggling into Ward's firm chest. But as though he had some kind of motion sensor, Ward's eyes blinked open. He cleared his throat and sat up straighter when he saw Skye looking at him with doting eyes.

"What?" His eyes avoided her gaze and his lips tightened.

"It's been quiet." She pushed herself off the doorframe and made her way to his bed. "Just making sure you haven't used the Night Night gun on him." He chuckled a smile. She shuffled next to him and awed at the sleeping baby.

"I was tempted but he fell asleep before I could even go down to the lab and get it," he smirked. Skye punched his bicep then gasped, "How could you think that?"

"Shh, he's sleeping," he hushed as soon as the baby fussed in his arms.

"Look at that, he cares for him," she said, raising her eyebrows.

"You don't want me to resort to tranquilizing him as soon as he starts crying, now do you?" She rolled her eyes in disbelief even though being aware of his true thoughts.

"Oh baby."

* * *

**MissSweetB13's prompt: **How about Skye and Ward get themselves into a situation where they have to care for a baby for an hour or so, and Skye's good at it but Ward is at the peak of awkwardness as he's never done anything like this before.

**AN: Well, I didn't exactly follow MissSweetB13's prompt :/ Also, I wrote this before I had even watched 1x12 so the 0-8-4 baby reference was not due to certain things that was said in that particular episode... Don't know if that made sense but do leave a review on what you thought about it!**


	11. Warm

_~ Series of one shots of the adorable couple, SkyeWard ~_

_**AN: Aww thanks, you guys.. Your reviews really mean a lot to me. So keep 'em coming :P Alright, so this one is my take on what's been going on in Ward's brain. I hope you dig it :)**_

**Set during that last awe-able SkyeWard scene in 1x12**

* * *

He followed silently behind her; wondering why she was going back into the Academy. She had slipped out of the Bus quietly; thinking that no one would notice or even if they did, they wouldn't think of going after her. But did she really think that her S.O. would let her slip out of his sight? Never. He could let her go into the Academy on her own. She's been doing fine being alone all these while. And he's been comfortable leaving her by herself all these while. Yet he found himself making haste toward his rookie.

She turned right. Then a left. And then another left. He narrowed his eyebrows. He knew very well where she was going. But why?

He quickened his steps then extended his hand to grab her arm. She stopped abruptly, unfazed by his sudden presence then slowly turned her head to look up into his warm brown eyes. Not a single gasp escaped from her lips. Not a second of shock emerged in her eyes but underneath the layer of glistening tears and thick cloud of grief, it was pure sincerity. He couldn't decipher what was going through her mind but with that blissful pain sketched on her face, he know he couldn't bring himself to stop her from doing whatever she came to do. His face fell with sympathy as he released his grib around her arm. His eyes locked onto hers for just two seconds before she made a feeble smile then made her way. He watched her with soft eyes as she approached the Wall of Valor.

She threaded along the wall lightly, scanning carefully at every name and giving them a smile as though she'd known them personally. SHIELD was the family she'd always had. Every single SHIELD agent was her family.

He observed her from afar; being lost in his own thoughts. There were only so many emotions he can suppress and put on lock down but he needed to get one thing straight: She meant something to him.

Her betrayal was still fresh in his mind. To say he was furious that his own rookie deceived the entire team did not even do justice to explaining how he felt. The manner of how she did it was even worse. All those time they grew closer; establishing how each other meant to one another – strictly unprofessional on her part. He was just beginning to warm up to their relationship. To her.

He knew he couldn't let his feelings cloud his judgment and take his hurt too far. He needed to reevaluate the situation and approach through a different angle. See, Ward had no intentions to ignore her existence in his life. He could never throw her away. She had a fixed place in the team. But that doesn't mean he was going let her off easily. He was desperate for her to convince him of her loyalty to the team and to him. To prove that he was right about her.

Day by day, she'd trying so hard to fix the broken bridges. She knew she had hurt them bad. And she knew that it would take a huge effort for her to even get her S.O. to wipe that frown of his face whenever he looked at her. She couldn't force him and she didn't want to push it further. She was terrified that she might trigger the left over rage from the Berserker Staff. No, she couldn't risk that. Not at all. But she couldn't stop trying. She was desperate to get her team's trust back. They were too important to her.

Anger still consumed him, knowing that she chose Miles Lydon over him. Ward was never good when it came to dealing with feelings. He wouldn't cry. He wouldn't talk. He'd just rage on the inside. And avoid any kind of human interaction. See, our specialist tried his hardest to keep his distance from her but he also wouldn't hide from expressing his frustrations whenever he was near her. He'd let her know that he was livid but she'd keep trying to soothe his heart. He'd keep trying to push her away but she'd keep coming back to him. He'd keep trying to put an imaginary sign up on her head saying that she was a traitor but she'd keep convincing him that she could be trusted. So what could he do to end the never ending tug of war? There was no distraction distractive enough to distract him.

Then there was Agent Melinda May.

He knew from the start that he could he could get away with feelings with her. That he could cover up his true feelings by tricking himself into thinking that he also could have a fun time. Just actions that meant nothing. It was all meaningless. He thought he could escape the undeniable hatred for Skye's betrayal. Or so he thought. Every time he pictured himself with May, he'd end up picturing Skye with Miles. Every time he did anything to May, he'd imagine Miles doing the exact to Skye. He hated that and he hated himself for everything that happened. So what could he do to ignore his feelings for Skye? Manipulate his heart into thinking they were for May.

Never has he been so wrong.

The lack of Skye in his life was far too difficult for him to cope. He wanted her back. He needed her back. He knew he could terminate his relationship with May and it wouldn't cause a dent in the pilot's heart. But his heart; somehow shielded with a protective layer to prevent any more heartbreak; needed confirmation before letting its true contents override any form of malicious coating.

He had no problems with her as a supervising officer. She could be trusted. A valuable asset that has proven on countless of missions she was part of the team. There was no issue for him anymore - in his head Skye belonged. The unlikely hacker from The Rising Tide who threw his protocol mentality and rules out the window received more trust than the organization he worked for. Why? Because he believed in her abilities and commitments. Because she was more precious than a system of levels.

She smiled. Agent L. Avery. All her life, her only true mission was to find the truth about her past. Now, her life search was over. SHIELD had been protecting her. SHIELD was her family. SHIELD was a part of her. And there was nothing more to say.

It was surprising. Well, she never ceased to amaze him. He knew she'd appreciate the Wall of Valor but not in the way he'd expected. So he smiled to himself at the thought; with complete and utter adoration for her. Yes, she meant something to him.

And then he realized that they were back, blowing in like a desert sandstorm; unpredictable, inevitable and inescapable. As long as he felt a slight crack of smile at the corner of lips and a heavy pitter patter in his warm heart, he knew they were back. Feelings. Damn feelings.

* * *

**AN: I gotta say, my brain exploded while writing this. I apologise for any confusing stuff :/ Tell me what you thought of it! :)**

**Also, I now have Tumblr! So feel free to drop a SkyeWard/AOS question or just any random question if you want (no please, do it.. I beg of you! Me love you long time if you do *hugs*) **

**Visit me, you know you want to:** glorelleth-ancalime dot tumblr dot com :)


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